Iraq boosts Riyada youth-employment loans with $700M

Shafaq News – Baghdad

Iraq’s Rafidain Bank on Tuesday raised the forty-first batch of loans under the Riyada entrepreneurship initiative, increasing support to 82 new files with a total value of 1 trillion dinars (about $700M).

In a statement, the bank’s media office described the move as a continuation of efforts to finance small and medium projects within the Central Bank of Iraq’s program. With this batch, the number of financed files has reached 4,205, amounting to 54.94 trillion dinars (around $38.4B).

Launched in March 2023, the Riyada initiative seeks to motivate Iraqis aged 16 to 50 to adapt to labor-market changes, sharpen skills, and turn ideas into viable projects. Caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani earlier confirmed that nearly half a million people have registered, generating around 22,000 jobs through associated loans.

The Ministry of Planning reported that unemployment fell from 16.5 percent in 2022 to 13 percent at the start of 2025. Former Planning Minister Nouri al-Dulaimi, however, warned that population growth—now 46.1 million—continues to outpace job creation and basic services, leaving more than a third of Iraqis aged 18 to 35 unemployed or underemployed within a youth cohort that constitutes roughly 60 percent of the population.

Read more: Youth in despair, no jobs to share: Iraq’s workforce hanging in the air